TACE vs TACE+SBRT for Unresectable Hepatocellular Cancer

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Resection or liver transplant is the only curative treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) however a vast majority of patients present with unresectable disease. In the last decade results of randomized trials and a subsequent metaanalyses established transarterial chemoembolizatio...

Resection or liver transplant is the only curative treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) however a vast majority of patients present with unresectable disease. In the last decade results of randomized trials and a subsequent metaanalyses established transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as standard of care in patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B. However, TACE alone is not a curative approach. The two year survival following TACE ranges from 31-63% with almost 100% patients developing disease progression after treatment. There is need to investigate additional therapeutic options that would consolidate the initial response to TACE. A recent metaanalyses including 17 trials (5 randomized and 12 non randomized studies) concluded that addition of high dose radiation to TACE results in upto 10-35% improvement in two year overall survival. However as results of metaanalyses were based on studies with small sample size, unclear randomization procedure and heterogenous dose of radiation, the need for conducting a high quality randomized study was highlighted. The present study is designed to investigate the role of high dose conformal radiation as consolidation therapy after TACE in patients with nonmetastatic unresectable HCC. With an integrated phase II/III design the study investigates the impact of local radiation therapy on infield progression free survival in patients with locally advanced unresectable HCC.

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